


The Miracle That We Met

by TGIntentX



Series: Robin Romantica [5]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics), DCU, Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Character Study, Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Relationship(s), Relationship Study, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:29:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23421721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TGIntentX/pseuds/TGIntentX
Summary: “I never thought I could have what I always wanted. He came to me like fate.”Destiny and love, it is not something that Damian Wayne normally believes in. His life was planned accordingly from the start, no room to allow such useless notions. That is, until Dick Grayson came along and turned his world upside down.This fic is 90% Platonic
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne (unrequited), Dick Grayson/Damian Wayne
Series: Robin Romantica [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/893628
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41





	The Miracle That We Met

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone is doing well in this pandemic. I have mentioned that this fic will be the last of the series and would be released in the summer. But I'm trying to distract myself from my other WIP so here is an early release.
> 
> This fic is 90% platonic as we will take a look into Damian's past and psyche. I will put warnings up at the beginning of each chapter should there be any hint of romantic elements like hugging, kissing, not so innocent feelings etc.. It will be the reader's job to heed the warnings should they want to continue.
> 
> In case this wasn't clear, this is a flashback fic. Underage romantic feelings of any kind will not exist in this fic. The series has Damian as an adult but since this is a flashback fic, he is a kid. 
> 
> Warning: References to established relationship (Damidick) from prior fics of the series are mentioned in the first part of the fic. Please do what you need to look after yourselves.

“Where do you want this box, Grayson?”

“Huh? Let me see... just put it in the living room for now. I'll decide later.”

It has been a tumultuous journey for them to be where they are now. From feelings of confession, overcoming insecurities, to finally acceptance to what they are. It hasn't been easy for either of them, meeting difficulties head on. The only reason they managed to make it this far is because the other is somehow nearby.

[“Damian? Did you buy that?”](https://flaffizz.tumblr.com/post/158268260606/about-a-cactus)

“Had it for a while.”

“Oh? It's so big, like the ones at the botanical gardens.”

But the biggest step in their relationship is finally moving in together. It had been Damian's surprise and his biggest accomplishment. Choosing a place that is convenient for the both of them, reasonable price within their earnings, and comfortable accommodations.

“That's the last box,” Damian comes into the living room while wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans. “Which room do you want me to start?”

Dick peers around the kitchen doorway. His rubber gloved hands holding clorox wipes from cleaning the kitchen area. “Why don't you start unpacking your stuff in our room. You can leave my stuff alone, I have a system.”

Damian nodded, initially intending to do so but halted in his tracks. He goes to the kitchen area where Dick is in, his back facing him, still cleaning. He didn't bother hiding his padded feet, wrapping his arms around Dick's torso and settling his head on his shoulder.

“Need something, Dami?”

Damian snuggles his face against Dick's neck. “Need to recharge.”

“I'm sweaty and stinky.” Dick removed his rubber gloves with a snap. “And you're heavy.”

Damian shrugs. “You smell like home.” Still within embrace, he reaches up to tug at Dick's collar and gives a peck on his exposed shoulder. He smiles into his skin when he sees Dick's cheeks reddened from his actions.

Dick clears his throat, quickly slipping out of Damian's embrace. After all this time he still couldn't get used to it. “I-I'm gonna go grab us some lunch down the street. Take a break and relax – I'll be right back.”

Dick made to leave the kitchen but paused halfway. In a second he moves back to Damian's side, giving him a quick peck on his cheek. He quickly leaves again, discarding his slippers, putting on his shoes, and left the apartment. If Damian thought that he saw Dick stumbled a little, he would think nothing of it.

Alone, Damian picks up one of his boxes and heads to their shared bedroom. He moves around the boxes that are blocking his way. He starts to take out his books to put in the large empty bookshelf.

His hand came into contact with a particular book. Unlike the other books which most of them are for his area of study, this one seems personal. The paper cover's color is faded, looking old and used.

Opening a page revealed sketches of Damian's old drawings. He cringed at the first couple pages, mostly early drawings of something childish or lack of skill. As he flips through the pages, the drawings became more defined and improved. A sketch caught his eyes, stopping at a particular page.

It was his first sketch of Dick Grayson.

Judging from the date, it was during his early years living at the manor. From the white pages, Dick is sitting by the kitchen table reading a book with a steaming cup next to him. The drawing wasn't detailed or large as it looks like Damian had been drawing from a distance.

He turns the page, slowly one by one the drawings improved; more defined and detailed. It's all Dick Grayson. Dick by the garden. Dick eating an apple. Dick dancing to the invisible music. With every page his features have improved and are clearly shown, from his long eyelashes to the muscles on his back.

Damian's eyes softened when he comes to the last page, his finger traced around the figure. A drawing of Dick Grayson sitting in a grass field alone, staring up at the sky. His bicycle laid forgotten next to him. Immersed in his own world, he has the softest smile and calmest gaze.

It was his last sketch before he left home.

If Damian were to guess when he had fallen for Dick Grayson, he wouldn't know the answer. He could use his sketchbook as a timeline but it wouldn't be accurate. For all he knows, he could have fallen in love from the very first time they met.

* * *

“ _I guess we're brothers now.”_

It was not something he expected his “savior” would say. It didn't matter, those words meant nothing to him. Dick Grayson meant nothing to him. Just another obstacle that stood in his way of his birthright.

He had known that his mother had been planning something but he couldn't imagine it would go something along those lines.

After the meeting with the Wayne household, Talia privately explained the situation. They returned home, Talia sitting properly on the sofa while Damian had his head on her lap. Her hand runs through his short cropped hair, her other hand holding a book to read.

“ _Listen to me, Damian. You will be the one to rule..,”_ Talia caresses from his hair. _“No one will be a match for you. Supreme body and mind, this blood will prove you are the rightful successor. There is no one truly of this blood, only fakes. If they become a hindrance to you, erase them. That is your right.”_

It was something she had told him ever since he was born into the house of al Ghul. Their empire will soon belong to him once he proves himself worthy. His mother looks down on him with strong and stern eyes, knowing her words are truth and law meant to be followed.

All he could do is obey. _“Yes mother.”_

He doesn't doubt his mother that his body has Wayne's blood running through his veins. He grew up on stories told by his mother followed by DNA results and a birth certificate to back up her claim. His mother hired tutors of the highest caliber to ensure Damian receives a proper education fit for a future leader. Cram school, piano, swimming, taekwondo, politics, etc.. By the time they moved to Gotham and transitioned him to the best private school in the city, his skills and knowledge outpaced those of his peers and even his instructors.

School hadn't been much different other than the increased scrutiny he faced from the sudden change of his last name. The marriage announcement was a popular gossip topic for both his teachers and peers. He was faced with either attempts of discredit or getting on his good side.

He ignored everything else and continued his life as normal.

When Damian finally and properly met the man he called father, he couldn't help but feel disappointed. Bruce Wayne is nothing like what his mother made him out to be. He was regarded with frustration and anger while he return the gaze with just the same feeling. Bruce doesn't know what to do with Damian and Damian wanted to prove himself to an absentee father.

It was concession that after the wedding, Damian was moved into Wayne Manor alone. Only Damian. His mother and grandfather stayed in an estate on the outskirts of Gotham to keep a close eye on his study. His schedule doesn't change, his tutors would need to go to the manor.

“ _Think of it as a test,”_ his mother had said. _“To establish your place, to know your enemy, to usurp the pretenders. But most importantly; to prove your worth.”_

The manor was huge and its occupants are fleeting. Only one servant was employed in the Wayne household, a haughty butler who wasn't amused by Damian's attempts at undermining his authority. Most of the time Damian ended up eating his meals alone. His father did join him a couple of times attempting to establish a connection and a common ground. Often times it left both of them frustrated, after that they ate while ignoring each other.

But the day the distance between them became so glaring was when he least expected. Damian had been wandering the halls to familiarize himself of his surroundings. He had reached the closed door of his father's study, intending to peek in where his father does his work.

He didn't intend to eavesdrop but it sounds too serious to brush away.

“The test... it can't be... how can Damian-”

“Believe me, I had the test done myself. Even Alfred had double checked. It all comes back the same result.”

He recognized the voice of his father and Timothy Drake. The unpleasant older boy next door whom Bruce had adopted. Another contender for Damian's birthright.

“There's still time. We could forge a negative result –”

“Absolutely not! The DNA tests don't lie.”

“Don't you even care how we feel?! About Dick?! Bruce-”

“I know! I know...”

Damian held his breath as he listened in on their conversation. The weight of their conversation has to do with him and he has the right to know.

“Then why?”

“That boy... I don't know how... But I've never even hugged that self-righteous woman...”

Instinctively Damian took a step back, he could hardly breath. He wanted nothing more than to step into the office and get them to tell him everything. But it would have been better if he hadn't known at all.

It was at that moment he knew that he was an intruder in his father's home. They are neither father nor son but something much worse than strangers.

* * *

Ever since Damian came to live at Wayne Manor, he's been walking around the place on eggshells. Now he feels like he's been walking on spikes.

It was after the reveal that Damian had set to put distance between himself and the manor's occupants. When it became glaringly clear to Bruce that his illegitimate son wanted nothing to do with him, the father stopped his attempts to bond with him and lets him keep his space.

He tried not to let it bother him.

His relationship with the manor's occupants are still that of a stranger. Tim's reaction range from being antagonistic to outright ignoring him. Nothing new.

There came a slight bit of change to the manor when Richard Grayson finally returned. The prodigal son. Like a shift in the atmosphere, the manor's occupants seemed to be happier with a skip in their step. Even the butler seemed happy as he is much known for his expressionless facade.

Damian had been observing them while hiding on the top steps, peering behind the banister. Grayson had arrived talking with the butler before Tim came barreling into his arms. Later his father arrived, standing by the tall archway and waiting for them to notice him. When Grayson turns his smile at Bruce, Bruce approaches them and stands close by Grayson's side.

By his observations, there is nothing noteworthy of Richard Grayson. An orphan taken in by Bruce Wayne at the age of 9 after his parent's untimely death. Now an undergraduate student majoring in liberal arts at Hudson University. Known for his charismatic attitude and good looks, nothing more than a pretty charity case.

And yet his mother had deemed him to be the biggest obstacle to claim his birthright.

It was during one of his biweekly meetings with his mother, three days before Grayson was due to arrive. After he found out that his father hadn't known how he came to be, Damian sought the truth from his mother. He hadn't gotten the chance to ask when she had more pressing issues to discuss.

“ _Richard Grayson will be returning home for his break._ ” Talia primly sips from her porcelain tea cup. _“He is a threat to what you have been made for. The biggest threat you will have to overcome.”_

Damian had already studied the manor occupants' profile. Every little detail from their social media activity to their medical records since birth. But from his analysis he doesn't deem Grayson as a threat.

“ _Grayson was never adopted by father so he wouldn't inherit anything,”_ Damian reasoned. _“I thought Timothy Drake is the one I will have to look out for. He has grandfather's approval and respect.”_

“ _Timothy should not be trifled with but Richard is a delusional pretender who believes he belongs in our world. He is someone that your father has indulged for too long. A pretty charity case. If given the opportunity, your father would have given everything to him.”_

“Yo, what are you doing up here?”

Damian casts an irritating glare at Jason Todd standing behind him. Another orphan his father had adopted from the streets. He rarely sees the man around the manor, much less than Drake or his father. Jason's grades were average at best, an insignificant bump on the road.

Jason responded to Damian's glare with an raised eyebrow. He steps around the boy to join the rest of them below. “Yo! What's up dick-head!”

The derogatory name had caused varying emotions among them. Disgust, disappointment, exasperated, and unease. He watches Grayson's eyes followed Jason, somehow finding his hiding place overlooking the group. An amused curiosity sparkles when Grayson's eyes met Damian's.

“Won't you come down?”

He can't hide anymore. Damian gets up and slowly goes down to join the group. When he finally steps down, he could almost see an invisible line separating him from the rest of the household, making it clear that he is a stranger in their household.

Grayson gives Damian a kind smile. “We've met at that hotel a long time ago but didn't properly introduce.” He crosses that invisible line, sticking his hand out. “I'm Richard Grayson. You can call me Dick. It's nice to meet you.”

Damian looks at Dick curiously; looking down at the hand and up at Dick's face. He's not oblivious to the others' reaction, waiting for his response. His actions will decide the Wayne's opinion of him.

And he will make it loud and clear as he accepted Dick's hand. “Damian _Wayne._ ”

The name had almost everyone flinched or narrow their eyes in response. But Damian doesn't care. He wants to see how the person his mother considers his biggest threat would react.

Dick's smile wavered a little, the corner of his mouth twitched just a brief second. His hand that he was holding loosened a little before his grip was adjusted and firm.

That smile of his, it's irritating.

“Nice to meet you, _Damian Wayne._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to kudos and comment :)


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